Where do stolen phones go? To IMEI ‘changers’; Police busts gang in Delhi
gang that allegedly changed the IMEIs — the unique identifiers of a handset — of stolen mobiles and arrested three individuals, reported TOI.
The gang was active in west Delhi and aided several snatchers and mobile thieves, police said.
The accused, identified as Narabjeet Singh (26), Manish Singh (23) and Gurmeet Singh (32), are residents of Tilak Nagar. Police seized 79 stolen phones along with a laptop containing software and other evidence from the suspects.
Due to the changed IMEIs, cops are finding it difficult to connect the phones to various FIRs that were lodged. Nonetheless, they have successfully linked them to four cases reported in their jurisdictions thus far. Authorities are actively working to establish connections between the remaining phones and their rightful owners.
According to sources, many stolen mobile phones have not been found by police due to a rise in the number of 'IMEI changers' in the city. The trend has left the cops worried. As per official records, only a small percentage of snatched or stolen mobile phones are recovered. Most of the time, people get a new SIM issued after a theft, so cops use the IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) to track stolen phones.
Police said the gang used a special software that assigned a new IMEI to handsets, thereby omitting its only evidence of being a stolen phone. The 'changed' mobiles would then be sold in the grey market as genuine, used phones.
The gang's operation was disrupted when sub-inspector Amit's team received information
